Abel Sanchez, trainer for IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs), is training hard for his scheduled rematch with Canelo Alvarez.
Their second fight takes place on May 5th, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The first contest took place last September, at the same Las Vegas venue, and ended in a controversial twelve round split draw.
Some wonder if age is finally catching up with Golovkin.
After knocking out 23 opponents in a row, Golovkin has gone the distance in his last two fights. And he's been hit more often and shown vulnerabilities in several of his recent outings.
Golovkin, who had a long amateur career before turning pro, is turning 36 in April.
Canelo, at 27, has a big advantage in age.
Taking everything into account, Sanchez does not believe Golovkin has gotten old just yet.
But, if he sees his boxer slipping - Sanchez will be very honest with him.
If Canelo completely dominates Golovkin in the rematch - Sanchez will likely attribute that to age and sit down with GGG to discuss his future in the sport.
The veteran trainer saw nothing in the first bout with Canelo to make him even consider that Golovkin has aged in the ring.
"I don’t know, I’m not father time. In the gym I see the same things I saw before. Obviously we are training different than we did eight years ago because he is getting a little bit older, but until somebody really dominates him in a way that the speed is too much or the boxing is too much, then I’ll say he’s getting old. Until now, nobody has done that, Canelo didn’t do that. I will tell you this, I will be brutally honest when I see it in the gym or if I see it in a fight," Sanchez told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.
"It all depends on how the fight goes [for me to determine if GGG got old]. If he gets dominated completely, then we have to look at it realistically, but if he loses a nail-bitter and it’s close, then the business of boxing tends to do things that are beneficial to the sport.
"I said three years ago that I thought this could be a trilogy, I thought it was that kind of fight. I’ve always though that it could be a trilogy, and our sport needs those kinds of rivalries. I think if we continue to feed the sport those kinds of top notch fights, I think we’re going to do well in 2018, as we did in 2017."
2023-10-20 16:23:33
